In 1945 Albert Einstein, Robert Oppenheimer and University of Chicago scientists helped develop the first atomic weapons in the Manhattan Project.
They also created the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists and two years later created the Doomsday Clock to convey the threats of nuclear explosions to humanity and the planet.
In December 2023, a group, including the author, launched a new campaign to get the Australian War Memorial to recognise and represent Australia’s first war – the Frontier or Australian Wars.
Needless to say, the AWM has been reluctant to agree, making vague promises about when, where , and how the Wars might or might not be represented.
On April 28 1996 35 people in Tasmania were shot and died in an attack by a lone gunman.
Politicians immediately rallied around in bi-partisan support of the Prime Minister John Howard.
On December 14 2025 14 Jewish people on Bondi Beach were shot and killed.
This time there was no bi-partisan reaction and instead the first prominent voice heard was that of John Howard claiming it was all the fault of Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese.
Climate change may be nonsense, a giant conspiracy, a fraud and other things to people like Donald Trump and Tony Abbott – but it’s not to the American public – nor the Australian one.
Recently the Center for Climate Change Communication at George Mason University published a major report – Climate Change in the American Mind: Beliefs & Attitudes.
There are moments in history, science, politics and other areas when a tipping point is reached.
One of the dictionary definitions is that a critical point is where a situation, process, or system beyond which a significant and often unstoppable effect or change takes place.
The US researcher, G. Elliott Morris (Strength in Numbers 27/1/26) identifies Minnesota and the ICE atrocities as one of them.
So far there has been no sign of any Australian politician speaking out about Donald Trump’s claims about deaths in Afghanistan.
The reaction in NATO countries, however, has seen a widespread. Veterans, NATO leaders and even Prince Harry (the Duke of Sussex) reacted with anger after US President Donald Trump said veterans from other NATO member states avoided the front line in Afghanistan.
Melvin A. Goodman, a former CIA analysts and senior fellow at the Centre for International Policy, recently compared Trump’s attacks on US democracy to Hitler’s first years in power.
He also reminded us that the mainstream media continues to grapple unsuccessfully with how to describe Trump and suggests the appropriate comparison is the definition of a “Megalomaniac: Someone with an extreme obsession for power, wealth and self-importance characterised by grandiose delusions of being more significant and powerful than they are, often linked to a tenuous grip on reality”.
During World War II the US Government produced a series of pamphlets – called Army Talk – focussing on issues and politics. Orientation Fact Sheet 64 was called Fascism!
In a brief opening summary, the pamphlet said: “Fascism is not the easiest thing to identify and analyse; nor once in power, is it easy to destroy. It is important for our future and that of the world that as many of us as possible understand the causes and practices of fascism, in order to combat it.”
Donald Trump’s outbursts are generally riddled with hyperbole, nonsense and braggadocio.
But in one his latest rants he is showing something unusual – a degree of fear.
On January 6 Reuters reported that he had said told Republicans that they must win the 2026 midterm elections or else he will be impeached by Democrats.
Donald Trump may be revelling in his ‘victory’ in Venezuela but the American public, according to the latest polls, were and are strongly opposed to his war. When pollsters specified the goal of military action (removing Maduro), the numbers barely improved.
The opposition is not new. Data for Progress found back in December that 60% of likely voters opposed “sending American troops into Venezuela to remove President Maduro from power” versus 33% in favour. September YouGov polling on using military force “to overthrow Maduro” found 53% opposed and just 18% in favour. Independents strongly or somewhat opposed and 64% of Republicans were either not sure or opposed.